


the love issue

by unbalancedlove



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (somewhat), Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Gossip, Humor, M/M, Valentine's Day, mentioned nomin, side tendery, side xiaoyang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 11:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17938757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbalancedlove/pseuds/unbalancedlove
Summary: when donghyuck learns that mark is in love with someone, he's determined to find out who it is at all costs.only in the name of investigative journalism, of course.





	the love issue

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!!! sorry for this super late valentine's day fic!
> 
> based on this tweet: https://twitter.com/demonyukhei/status/1092085539103158272

the meeting room of neo city university’s chewing gum club is a sacred place where only the top minds on campus meet and exchange wisdom, where all the legendary and important events on campus are dissected and investigated in depth. a place that most students can only dream of having access to.

okay, so maybe it just happens to be the dorm room of renjun and yangyang, and maybe they spend most of their “meetings” napping or arguing or debating the legitimacy of an online quiz (the results of ‘which exo member are you based on your favorite pizza topping’ were very controversial). but donghyuck overheard two girls sitting in front of him in class wonder how this jobless group of friends has the time to run a very active instagram account that reports every happening in ncu, and that counts for something, right?

these people mock them, but donghyuck knows that they’re all following the account and checking it regularly, desperately hoping that they or their friends were deemed important enough to be included.

“this is serious guys,” jaemin clasps his hands together. he considers himself the leader of the group, even though no one except for his boyfriend takes him seriously. “we need to do something big for valentines day, something that will have everyone talking for _days_.”

renjun scoffs. “yeah, we don’t want another post that’s just pictures of you and jeno with the caption _you want what we have._ ”

“that was a clear abuse of your powers,” yangyang nods.

“was he wrong, though?” jeno replies. none of them dare disagree. jeno and jaemin are the obnoxiously perfect couple that everyone hates but only because they wish they were the same.

“anyway,” jaemin rolls his eyes. “i’ll pass around the microphone, i hope everyone is prepared with ideas.”

the chewing gum club is made of traditions. renjun sets up the meetings, yangyang takes notes, jaemin passes around the toy microphone, and, most importantly, donghyuck always has the best scoops.

he smirks to himself as jeno describes the new valentine themed layout he wants to design, and he has to resist the urge to snatch the mic from yangyang’s hand while he suggests an interactive post where their followers could share their stories.

when all eyes ore on him, he clears his throat dramatically and holds the mic up to his face with his eyes closed like he’s about to perform for a packed stadium.

“just spit it out already,” renjun snaps at him.

“are you guys sure you’re ready?” donghyuck wants to hype up his bored crowd first.

jaemin checks his phone. “i have class in half an hour, donghyuck.”

“i don’t think you’re ready!”

renjun looks at jeno. “see you here same time next week?”

“okay, okay fine! ugh, tough crowd,” donghyuck pouts. “so….i saw mark lee on my way here.”

“mark lee as in my neighbor mark lee? wow, i wonder what brings him here.”

“ha, funny. i don’t think you get it, i saw mark lee with _a girl_.”

now everyone’s actually paying attention. that annoying smirks finds its way back to his face.

“are you sure it’s not just kang mina?”

donghyuck shakes his head. mina is his best friend. “different girl, haven’t seen her before. not a big deal, right? mark is really popular for some unfathomable reason.”

the other four exchange strange looks and smile.

mark lee. annoyingly handsome, annoyingly smart, annoyingly kind to everyone he meets, with a dorky annoying laugh that makes his entire handsome face scrunch up. he’s also the subject of many of their posts, which might be the reason why horror flashes through his eyes every time he passes yangyang and renjun in the hallway of their dorm. it’s not the club’s fault though, his posts always get the most engagement with people asking for more on others, even after they exposed him for picking his nose in class.

“the reason this is newsworthy is,” donghyuck continues. “because she was confessing to him.”

“oooohhhh no that poor girl….” jaemin covers his mouth.

“what do you mean poor girl? i didn’t tell you what he said.”

“uh, right, continue,” yangyang stammers. donghyuck narrows his eyes at him but goes on anyway.

“he said that he was sorry….because he’s in love with someone else.”

renjun makes a face that’s a cross between confusion and disgust. “wait a second, _in love_?”

“his exact words.”

“wow, sounds pretty serious,” renjun whistles.

“mark lee is in love with someone….” jaemin is in disbelief.

donghyuck is pretty satisfied by their reactions. he’s done it again. “this is the part where you all thank me.”

“for what exactly? being a nosy piece of shit?”

“hey! being a nosy piece of shit is how we get most of our content!” he defends himself. “besides, this is the perfect news for our valentine special. i won’t rest until i find out who it is exactly that _the_ mark lee is in love with.”

donghyuck has been fired up about this the entire way to the meeting. he’s not sure what it is exactly, but the thought of mark secretly liking someone has his heart racing and his blood pressure rising up. he hadn’t realized that he had become so absorbed in his side investigative journalism hobby that a story could make him feel more excited than he does about things that actually affect his own life.

“wow, you’re awfully invested in this story,” jaemin muses. he’s usually the one who handles the stories related to dating, always knows when two people like each other even before they do.

donghyuck doesn’t understand what he means by that, but he just knows that he’s being mocked. “what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“i mean….for how much you complain about our account turning into a mark-fest you sure are fixated on who he rejects and who he dates. seems suspicious.”

“maybe your heart is one of the dozens that were broken after this news?”

“it’s for the engagement, yangyang. do you really want us to have less followers than fucking dankshot?”

dankshot is an awful meme account run by two freshman kids, jisung and chenle. donghyuck wouldn’t call them their rivals, they’re not even worthy of such a title.

“jaemin could easily do it,” yangyang shrugs. “or i could ask my personal servant to gather information.”

yangyang says a lot of weird shit that donghyuck ignores, but this one catches his attention. “why on earth do you have a personal servant?” and why doesn’t donghyuck have one? what does he lack that yangyang doesn’t? he needs to get in on this stat.

renjun, who looks like he’s tired of discussing this topic, simply sighs. “the less questions you ask about xiaojun the better.”

“what? i thought that was your boyfriend?”

yangyang tsks at him. “stop being so old fashioned, these things are not mutually exclusive.”

donghyuck is so dumbfounded that he almost forgets his newfound purpose in life. “why am i wasting time talking to this weirdo? i have more important things to attend to, like breaking the biggest story of my career.”

“you’re a marketing major, donghyuck,” jeno yells as he slams the door behind him.

 

“god, not you,” is what mina says instead of acknowledging donghyuck’s friendly hello. rude. “please, god, _no_.”

he sits across from her at the dining hall regardless and doesn’t mind that she uses the thick textbook she was reading to cover her face and pretend he doesn’t exist. “i’m here on official chewing gum business, kang mina.”

“the last time you said this i woke up to pictures of mark’s fingers up his nose all over my feed! leave us alone!”

ah, the sacrifices that donghyuck makes in the name of journalism. he’s endured more insults and nasty looks in the past year than he has in his entire life. he let himself become public enemy number one, all in the name of getting the truth out there. the disgusting truth about how mark lee doesn’t have the decency to not pick his nose in public.

“i raised his social status, made him seem more human,” he justifies. he still can’t believe his hit piece on that annoying dork did nothing to his reputation.

“i really wish you’d stop talking about everyone on campus like they’re celebrities and you’re a dispatch reporter hiding in a bush outside their apartment complex,” mina says. “and how did you even know i was going to be here?”

“don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers of.” he asked fifteen people and looked in three different buildings.

“so what did mark do now?” she’s already given up trying to make him go away. donghyuck is glad she’s finally learning that he’s not easy to get rid of.

he props his chin on his hand and tries to sound as casual as possible as he says his next words. “is he seeing anyone?”

mina scoffs. “you interested?”

him and _mark lee_? that’s outrageous. disgusting. unimaginable. he’s throwing up in his mouth a little. “answer the question instead of insulting me.”

“if he was, you’d find out long before even i did,” she points out. she makes it sound like he’s obsessed with mark. why does everyone think he’s obsessed with mark? it’s not like he’s running the mark lee love club (a real account that also exists, donghyuck only follows it for research purposes and nothing more.)

“ _jaemin_ would tell me, yes,” he corrects her. “but he is interested in someone, isn’t he?”

“hmm, not that i’m aware of. where did you hear that?”

“again, you’re better off not knowing.”

mina glares at him and dives back behind her book. “don’t ask for my help if you’re going to be all cryptic.”

donghyuck sighs. the first rule of journalism is to never explain what you’re doing to anyone. he heard that from ten. he’s a finance major.

“i haven’t, i just have a funny hunch,” it feels wrong for her to hear it from him rather than mark directly. “do you really not know?”

“nothing at all.” she thinks for a moment and then smiles. “the only reason he wouldn’t is if he’s too embarrassed to tell me.”

for anyone else, that might be a dead end, but he decides to push on. “have you noticed any strange or unusual behavior from him lately?”

“now that you mention it, he gets kinda weird during class.”

donghyuck is astounded by her answer. how could he not notice? “the one we have together?”

she nods.

 

\-------

what’s the point of going through the trouble of finding a spot in the same class as your best friend if there is going to be assigned seating and he ends up sitting next to some annoying asshole all semester long?

especially when that particular asshole is lee donghyuck?

mina’s not sure, but she makes sure to express her distaste to mark while they’re standing outside, waiting for class to begin.

“and why are we here so early anyway? i don’t want to spend more time in this class than i’m required to by the syllabus.”

mark’s looking pretty distracted.  he’s leaning on the wall, watching people come and go from both directions.

“no reason,” he says, fidgeting slightly. he’s such a nervous wreck that he jumps when a hand taps his shoulder.

it’s lee donghyuck, looking like he just ran a marathon. “waiting outside ten minutes before the class starts again, dork?”

mark’s face changes into three different colors and then settles into a flush of pink. “w-well so are you, donghyuck.”

donghyuck is quick with his excuse. “i run on a different schedule from the rest of you, chewing gum duties and all.”

were they _waiting_ for each other?

they step into the class together, still arguing, and mina is so dumbfounded she barely notices that mark’s left her behind.

sometimes (okay, most of the time) the lecture gets too boring and her eyes wander to the front left corner where her best friend is sitting. in her defense, it’s kind of hard to ignore when he and donghyuck are constantly bickering about something or the other.

“do we have a quiz on friday?” donghyuck whispers, and that simple question is enough to escalate into another pointless argument.

“no, the professor cancelled it because people kept whining. you would know if you didn’t skip class once a week.”

“why do you keep track of how many times i show up to class?”

“i don’t know donghyuck, why do you count on me to always take notes for you when you’re not around?”

mina rolls her eyes. her best friend is far too nice for his own good. donghyuck doesn’t deserve this kindness.

“you know you could easily refuse to give them to me, right?” he grabs his photocopy of the notes that mark has neatly set aside for him. “and thank you.”

mark turns that same shade of pink. “last time, asshole,” he says in a tone that sounded like it definitely isn’t going to be the last time.

again, nervous and fidgety over….class notes?

\------

 

“that’s weird?” donghyuck asks. “we’re not very fond of each other, that’s not news.”

mina is defensive about her answer. “yeah, he only gets like that around you, asshole.” then her eyes widen, like she’s just made a horrible realization.

“what, what is it?” has she finally figured out the identity of this mysterious person?

“do you suppose that maybe….” she can’t even finish the sentence, only waits for him to get on the same train thought that she’s on.

donghyuck is totally lost. “maybe _what_?”

she sits back, chewing on her bottom lip with her arms crossed, and then sighs to herself. “never mind, if you don’t know by now then there’s no point in spelling it out to you.”

“are you calling me an idiot?”

“hmm, yeah, pretty much really.”

she leaves him no choice but to use his secret weapon. he pouts and shakes his shoulders. “miiinnnaaaaa, pleaaaseeeee, please please please i’ll never ask you for anything again. i just really really want to know _please._ ” his whining has gotten him into a lot of places, maybe it’ll work this time too.

“out of my sight, or i’m telling mark you’ve been sniffing around again.”

donghyuck stands up dramatically. “fine, he has other friends! i don’t need you!”

she’s already tuned him out. “yeah, yeah, good luck with your little project.”

  
  
  


“i _told_ you not to let him in. we’ve been through this before.”

hendery looks at donghyuck like he’s a bug that he thought he had squashed but then it sprung wings out of nowhere and started flying right into his face. again, rude.

xiaojun looks guilty. “he kept doing that voice! i could not get him to shut the fuck up!”

one of the places that donghyuck has successfully weaseled his way into by whining: mark’s friends’ apartment.

“xuxi’s going to flip when he gets home and sees him here again. he’s terrified of donghyuck.”

rightfully so, as the chewing gum club hasn’t been so kind to him either. honestly though, no one told him to keep touching his junk on live television.

“xuxi’s at work and his shift isn’t over for another hour,” xiaojun says. “he doesn’t have to know.”

“i can see why yangyang likes you,” donghyuck says, and xiaojun smiles sheepishly at the mention of his name.

“i can’t believe you let him manipulate you that easily.”  hendery says, rubbing his temple. “no wonder you’re dating that absolute demon.”

“hey, yangyang’s my friend too!” donghyuck replies, despite agreeing wholeheartedly. only the club gets to call yangyang out on his antics.

“you’re not doing him any favors by pointing that out. now what do you want?”

“official chewing gum business,” donghyuck whips out his pink business card. it’s unnecessary, but he feels important when he does that.

“we didn’t think that you were coming over for dinner. what did mark do?”

“what, you see my face and immediately assume it’s about mark? what if i’m here to see my good friend yukhei?”

“what’s yukhei’s last name?”

he’s been cornered. “mark is in love with someone!”

xiaojun and hendery exchange looks. “no he’s not.”

something is strange, donghyuck thinks. why is mark keeping his friends in the dark while simultaneously telling a stranger about it like it’s nothing? none of it makes sense, but the unexpected direction his investigation is headed only makes him more intrigued.

“so he didn’t tell you guys either….” he contemplates waiting for yukhei, mark’s closest friend, to come home for a second, but the deadly look in hendery’s eyes tell him to hurry the fuck up and get out.

“how the hell would you know something like that while we don’t?” hendery asks.

xiaojun leans closer to him and whispers. “their methods are scary, i’ve seen it all in action and i wish i hadn’t.”

finally, someone who appreciates their hard work.

“will you break up with yangyang already?”

“no,” xiaojun says firmly. “we’re in love.”

“he calls you his personal servant,” donghyuck informs him, not caring about what the implications of sharing that information might be on his best friend’s relationship. he’s just jealous he doesn’t have his own servant.

xiaojun shrugs. “our special pet names are none of your business, donghyuck.”

hendery is horrified. “we….are going to talk about this later. and _you_ , you get one question.”

donghyuck imagines the long list of burning questions he prepared on his way here go through a shredder in his brain. he was determined to get a name tonight, but all hendery and xiaojun are giving him are scraps.

he thinks hard about what to ask, all while making himself comfortable in their living room, much to hendery’s disdain.

“i’ve got it. can you tell me if anything happened at the new year’s eve party last month? you guys were with mark most of the time.”

everyone in their social circle was at that party, hosted by jaemin’s rich parents in their vacation home an hour away from the city. whoever it is that mark is pining after must have been there.

 

\--------

most of the time might have been a slight exaggeration on donghyuck’s part.

“can you at least pretend that you want to be here?” yangyang asks, although he doesn’t seem to be bothered by xiaojun’s disinterest all that much.

the four of them did arrive together, at the generous invitation of xiaojun’s boyfriend, but separated after standing awkwardly by the foyer for five minutes. hendery’s off seducing the senior he’s been in love with for god knows how long, yangyang grabbed xiaojun’s hand and led him to a loveseat in the living room. mark and yukhei shrugged at each other and disappeared into the crowd.

“when you said it was going to be a small gathering, this wasn’t what i really expected.”

the house is trashed by eleven, the music is still blaring, some girl group song that xiaojun is only vaguely familiar with, and he can barely make out what’s happening around him with the dim lighting, only the clicking of the bottles and bodies swaying to the music.

in the center of it all is mark lee. his own best friend mark lee. actually dancing to that damn girl group song. _rookie_ , the title suddenly flashes in his mind, _that’s what it’s called_.

“is that mark….with donghyuck?” yangyang whispers in awe, like he’s stumbled across a rare treasure. xiaojun can practically see the caption for this scoop write itself inside his brain.

he groans. “who cares, let’s just go upstairs, please.”

“like i’m going to miss this.” yangyang takes out his phone and starts filming. xiaojun thinks that he takes that whole chewing gum thing way too seriously. he wants to have a couple more drinks, cuddle somewhere they’re not surrounded by every single person they know, and kiss his boyfriend at midnight. is that really too much to ask for?

“another one for the instagram, huh?” he asks, worn out and tired of trying to keep up.

“what? no, this is for personal use. it’s prime blackmail material, perfect for asking for favors.” yangyang can be so terrifying sometimes, and it’s absolutely adorable. the joy that tormenting people brings him is unparalleled.

he’s not really familiar with girl group choreography, but he’s sure that it does not require this much physical contact. they’ve both got intense looks in their eyes, staring deeply like there is no one else in the room. while mark is all sharp angles, donghyuck’s moves are a lot more fluid, dancing around him like a lion circling its prey. it’s almost like they’re having a battle, and he’s the clear winner and he knows it, taunting mark by stroking his arm or shoulder.

it’s so strange and embarrassing and yet xiaojun can’t look away, completely mesmerized. he’s suddenly thankful his boyfriend is recording the entire thing (while cackling to himself.)

eventually mark is fed up. he grabs donghyuck by the waist to get him to stop, and he succeeds, because donghyuck freezes in surprise, going from a lion to a deer in the headlights.

then the song abruptly ends and is replaced with the first notes of heize’s star. the atmosphere mellows out, and most of the dancers scatter away, getting more drinks or smoking in the front yard.

xiaojun and yangyang observe, waiting to see how the two of them are going to untangle themselves from the compromising situation they got themselves into, but neither of them budge, because that would mean that they would have to actually acknowledge it.

yangyang raises his fists, presumably to chant _kiss! kiss!_ , but xiaojun stops him. he’s released his fair share of chaotic energy into the world tonight.

mark tries to swing them along to the music for a bit, because, well, what else do you do when you have someone in your arms and a ballad is playing at a poorly lit party? yangyang gasps when donghyuck starts to go along with it.

“lee donghyuck! get your ass here right this second!” jaemin’s voice booms from the second floor, and donghyuck takes the opportunity to bolt from the scene.

“please tell me i didn’t just didn’t imagine all of that happening,” yangyang says. “xiaojun, pinch me.”

“no, i saw it all too. i can testify when renjun inevitably calls you a liar. “

“this is the best thing that ever happened to me,” yangyang strokes the screen of his phone. xiaojun clears his throat. “second best. come on, let’s go upstairs,” he says, looking only slightly apologetic, but xiaojun just sighs in relief.

\--------

 

“we were having a dance battle,” donghyuck explains in a deadpan voice. mark had the audacity to (drunkenly) claim that he can dance to red velvet songs better than everyone else on campus. someone had to set him straight. “and yangyang is in deep fucking shit. did you see mark dance with anyone else? like, actually dance, not compete for the title of best reveluv in ncu.”

“no, but i can tell you what we did upstairs.”

“disgusting. you, henderson, tell me what you saw.” he’s losing his patience with these idiots. what’s the point of interrogating mark’s friends if they’re just going to talk about him instead.

“who the fuck is henderson?”

“isn’t that your full name?” that’s what yangyang told him before he came here.

“i can call yangyang to come get him out of here if you want,” xiaojun offers.

“hey, you promised me an answer!”

hendery huffs. “fine, but call me that one more time and you’re dead.”

 

\--------

hendery is exactly as sad as he is gay on new years eve.

why won’t ten finally fucking notice that he’s been in love with him? what more does he have to do? how drunk does he have to get?

he’s about to find out, as he pours both of their drinks in jaemin’s kitchen. being in that demon’s home makes him feel uneasy, but xiaojun wanted to go, which made yukhei want to go, which gave mark no choice but to go. he didn’t want to be the odd one out.

and ten is here. beautiful, brilliant ten.

“and to think you almost stayed at home watching tv tonight,” yukhei says to him, and mark nods. hendery responds with a glare. if only his best friends would get the hint and leave them alone.

“aww, how come? you don’t like parties?” ten pouts, leaning over the counter because he can’t keep himself up straight. “you don’t like meeee?”

hendery laughs nervously. “‘course i do, you’re one of the reasons i decided to stick around here in the first place.” the only reason.

mark downs a shot, then flexes his noodle arms and growls like a feral animal. “i’m going to dance,” he says before disappearing without further explanation.

yukhei looks after him, worry knotting his pretty face, but that quickly vanishes when his phone buzzes. “perfect, yuqi’s here. i’m out.”

hendery shrugs. whatever bad decisions his friends were about to make were theirs and theirs alone. now he can focus on what really matters.

“took you way, way, too long to get here,” ten stumbles on his words, and then on his feet as he makes his way to the living room. “i’m spent. wanna take a nap.”

it’s only two hours later, when ten is snoring on his lap like a kitten, that he sees mark again, but only through the glass door that leads to the pool.

it’s all a bit hazy because it’s dark and he’s drunk and the glass door is on the opposite side of the room, but he can definitely recognize mark’s denim jacket. he’s sitting by the pool with someone resting his head on his shoulder. the other person says something, and the faint sound of mark’s laughter slips through the loud music.

 

\--------

uh-oh.

“i think that might be your guy,” hendery says. he looks a little proud of himself for solving that little mystery.

“you really couldn’t figure out who that was?” xiaojun asks, intrigued.

hendery shakes his head. “no clue, just that he had brown hair. that could literally be anyone.”

donghyuck stammers. “woah, i wonder who it might be. i guess i’ll have to investigate further. thanks guys, sorry i can’t stay for dinner.”

“we didn-”

“bye!”

as donghyuck leaves their apartment, he recalls his own version of the events of that night.

\--------

na jaemin did what na jaemin always does: ruin a magical moment.

just when donghyuck was about to win the dance battle, mark decided to cheat by pulling closer by the waist like it’s the climax of a cliche romance movie. the worst part is that it worked, because donghyuck’s body did stop moving, as did all his functioning brain cells.

mark’s grip is surprisingly strong, and the darkness in his eyes as he stares donghyuck down makes him gulp. that look has nothing to do with rookie or red velvet or their stupid battle. it’s something else entirely.

donghyuck’s not sure of what he’s supposed to do. does he just lean in? isn’t this how this scene is supposed to end?

he doesn’t even notice that the music has changed until mark attempts to swing him around awkwardly while looking everywhere except donghyuck’s face. he finally realized what he’s gotten himself into.

just when donghyuck has resolved to take one for the team and kiss this poor loser just to save him the embarrassment (no other reason, none at all), jaemin summons him upstairs.

jaemin isn’t pleased with his grumpy attitude. “you’re the one who was complaining about how this party was a drag, and now you don’t want to be here either? pick a struggle.”

“yeah, whatever. what do you want?” he decides not to tell them what happened. less misunderstandings that way.

“we’re having an emergency meeting.”

“and where is yangyang?”

“sometimes yangyang does more harm than good, especially when he’s not entirely sober. let him be.”

jaemin, renjun, and jeno waste an entire hour of his precious time putting together and timing the post they were going to drop at midnight. he doubts anyone cares about their account enough to check what they’re posting at fucking midnight.

he finds himself sprinting down the stairs. _sprinting_. donghyuck never fucking sprints. he scans the crowd, heart drumming in his chest, praying that mark hasn’t gone home yet.

he hasn’t.

“you’re going to miss the countdown,” donghyuck says as he sits next to mark by the pool. the wind is harsh and cold, but he can’t get himself to go back inside. leave mark all alone.

“i don’t really care,” mark is piss drunk at this point, more than he was an hour ago. he’s lying down, looking up at the few stars that are visible when they’re this far from the city.

“what are you even doing out here in the cold?”

mark doesn’t answer, and donghyuck thinks he’s fallen asleep with his eyes open for a second. “waiting for the right company, i guess. you?”

“doing some charity,” he nudges mark a little so he’d make more space for him, and mark actually does instead of pushing him off. “feeling bad for you. your little friends are all busy?”

“and what does that have to do with you? are you gonna make an instagram post about it?

donghyuck puts his hands up in the air. “you can chill out, i’m off duty.”

“we’re off the record?”

“yeah.”

“dancing with you was actually fun,” mark says unexpectedly. he had the chance to say anything off the record and chose this one. bold choice, donghyuck thinks.

“i had a lot of fun too, especially since i won,” he scoffs.

“the result is still up for debate,” mark replies easily. “i got a rise of you though, didn’t i?”

so he did notice. “that’s also up in the air.”

mark smiles at his implicit confirmation. “you’re pretty bad at hiding your emotions, you know.”

“not as bad as you are at slow dancing.”

and then mark laughs, and donghyuck realizes that he’s never heard it or seen it this close before. it’s a low sound, but his nose scrunches up and his eyes disappear into crescents. maybe donghyuck’s just drunk, but he thinks that it’s the prettiest thing he’s ever seen in his life.

the countdown chanting begins, but neither of them acknowledge it. all donghyuck can see is their reflection in the pool, sitting impossibly close, the faint gleam of the stars, the little sparkles in mark’s eyes when he stops smiling and exhales his warm foggy breath into donghyuck’s face.

then it’s finally midnight, everyone inside is cheering, and they get a front seat to the fireworks going off in the distance. donghyuck has spent every major holiday in the past year with his four best friends, but it doesn’t feel wrong that he’s with mark instead of them tonight.

mark’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he checks it for a split second before shoving it back in, the only thing donghyuck could catch is the instagram icon.

“happy new year, mark lee.”

“hope all your dreams come true,” mark replies. a total sap.

it’s hard to deny that there was something magical that night. a tiny little spark going off amidst a sky filled with new year fireworks, but still spectacular in its own right.

 _not that it matters now_ , donghyuck talks himself right out of it. mark is in love with somebody else. he must’ve been waiting for his crush and donghyuck came in and made it all weird. fuck.

 

an entire week goes by without a single solid lead, and donghyuck grows desperate. he even asks the annoying kids from dank shot for help.

“well well well, look who’s here,” chenle says, smirking. he’s decked out in his own merch. dank shot t-shirt, dank shot hoodie, dank shot sunglasses. “are you finally going to admit that dank shot is the superior account?”

“stop acting like this is your evil lair, we’re in a fucking starbucks.”

“this starbucks is where all the best memes are created,” jisung glares at him. “have some respect for the craft.”

donghyuck doesn’t have time to argue with these children, no matter how desperately he wants to, so he cuts to the chase. “do you guys know if mark lee likes anyone?”

chenle raises an eyebrow. “isn’t it your job to know?”

“i am doing my job right now, idiot. that’s what journalism is.”

“don’t know much about mark lee, just that he follows your account but not ours,” chenle replies, resentful. “are you here to flex?”

wait, mark is a chewing gum fan?

 

“checks it every morning like it’s the newspaper,” woojin confirms. he’s the president of the music club where mark just happens to be a member.

“and god knows why, your account has gone to shit recently,” vice-president jihoon chimes in.

“jihoon’s just pissed you guys don’t feature him all that often,” woojin explains in a stage whisper. “the only reason i know this is because i always catch him smiling at his phone. when i call him out on it he starts laughing and reads the captions out loud to me. he thinks they’re hilarious.”

donghyuck writes most of the captions. these are his words.

“well i heard….from a secret source….” he’s a broken record at this point. “that mark likes someone. maybe it could be one of you gentlemen?”

it makes sense. jihoon and woojin are both in mark’s year, they’re all obsessed with hip hop and donghyuck sees them around together often enough. it really does, but he doesn’t like it. mark would be better suited with someone who pushes his buttons, someone who challenges him.

or maybe that’s just what he wants to make himself believe.

“donghyuck….we’re dating each other. we have been since before we met mark,” jihoon says.

“what? that doesn’t make any sense.” he’s embarrassed that he hasn’t heard about this when it’s his job to know, but underneath that there is a hint of relief.

“and about mark, i don’t know if he likes anyone but he asked me to fetch something from his backpack and it was chock-full of chocolate. when i jokingly asked if it’s a valentine present, he got all defensive and said it’s for him,” woojin grins. “definitely didn’t sound like it was.”

 

“markley! yeah he comes by here often!” jiwoo, the cheerful cashier at the dorm’s convenience store is happy to answer his questions.

“i know this is a vague question, but did he buy chocolate any time this week?”

“now that you mention it, he doesn’t usually get candy bars, but he dropped a load of them on my counter a few days ago. didn’t really question it, it’s almost valentine’s day after all.”

perfect. “what kind of chocolate was it?” he asks, out of morbid curiosity more than anything.

“chocoballs!”

what the fuck? that’s his favorite type of chocolate. whoever it is that mark is buying chocolate for has excellent taste.

fuck them.

the person behind him in line grunts impatiently. donghyuck turns around, ready to give them a piece of his mind, before he recognizes that face.

it’s yukhei.

 

“i’m surprised you didn’t run the second we made eye contact,” donghyuck says as they settle down on a bench outside the dorm building.

mark’s elusive best friend, finally cornered with nowhere to run. it’s the perfect opportunity to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

“psh, i’m not scared of you,” donghyuck stares at him. “all that much.”

“so about mar-”

“you have a crush on mark,” yukhei says simply.

huh.

oh.

so that’s what this has been all about.

“how dare you eve- ugh, yeah. i’ve got it bad. mark lee fever.” who was he kidding, this isn’t about investigative journalism. no one dedicates this much time researching someone’s nose picking habit unless they desperately want to get in their pants. which, now that he thinks about it, donghyuck most definitely did. does.

“we’re not here to talk about my feelings though, and i swear that i’ll end you if you tell anyone.”

yukhei weighs his options, and then shrugs. “sounds reasonable enough.”

“now can you tell me about the person that mark is supposedly in love with? you know who it is don’t you? your ears are so big, they’re bound to pick up useful information.” donghyuck doesn’t want to expose their identity online anymore. he wants to go to war.

“i’ve been sworn to secrecy via a best friend blood pact so i can’t give you a name, sorry. i can describe them though.”

donghyuck whips out his phone and opens the notes app in a flash. “that’s useful enough.”

“hmm….the person mark likes. he’s actually a real pain in the ass. really stubborn, snarky, can be a little mean too. but he’s also a charmer, easily captivates any room he’s in, super funny too. mark won’t ever shut up about him, but he gets super excited talking about him that i can’t get myself to tell him to stop. the best part about him is that he really knows how to make mark laugh. it’s like they’re always on the same wavelength.”

donghyuck has no fucking idea who this person is.

“he sounds….absolutely awful.”

he can’t imagine mark with another person, laughing at their jokes, discreetly sharing notes in the middle of class, sensually feeding them chocoballs one by one. he can’t picture someone else sharing that moment with him by the pool. some things will always be his and mark’s only, he comforts himself.

yukhei laughs. “i don’t really get it either, but he makes mark happy.”

  


“this is a disaster.” donghyuck drops into a puddle on the floor, right in the middle of yangyang and renjun’s room, when he arrives at their next meeting. today is valentine’s day.

“heard about what you’ve been up to from xiaojun,” yangyang says. “did you finally find out who it was? is it someone we hate?”

“definitely someone _i_ hate,” renjun says under his breath, and the rest of them chuckle.

“no, i have no clue! it’s driving me nuts!” he rolls around sadly. a depression roll. “and worse of all, i realized something crazy yesterday. you guys are not ready for this.”

the four of them are barely paying attention to him, already accustomed to donghyuck’s semi-regular emotional breakdowns. “can you at least ask me what it is?”

“oh my god, please tell me, i’m dying,” yangyang says flatly as he continues to text on his phone.

he takes a very deep breath. mostly for drama. “i have a crush on mark.”

jaemin’s mouth hangs open, but he looks more offended than surprised. they all do. “we literally told you that a wee-”

“i know! no one could have ever seen this coming. i’m just as shocked as you guys.”

“just let him have this one,” jeno pats his boyfriend. yangyang doesn’t look up but his texting speed doubles, probably delivering the news to everyone in his contact list.

“so now what do i do?” the sad rolling resumes. there is no point to anything in his life anymore. no point to chewing gum, no point to going to class where mark is, and no point to the collection of cute mark pictures he’s accumulated for ‘research.’ their playful courtship isn’t as fun when he recognizes it for what it is. all he’s got now is a preemptively broken heart.

renjun stares at him. “what do you do? on valentine’s day?” he talks to donghyuck like he’s a toddler sometimes, and he absolutely hates it.

“stop being annoying and tell meeeeeeee.”

jeno and yangyang nod at each other, and then grab donghyuck by his arms and legs.

“hey! what the fuck are you doing?” he tries to struggle, but they’re both stronger than he expected them to be.

renjun rushes to open the door for them, and they count to three and drop his body out in the hallway.

“mark is literally a door away. play your cards right and you might get yourself a boyfriend today.”

 

it only takes him around thirty minutes to actually knock on the door.

“d-donghyuck,” mark stumbles back, giving him enough room to let himself in. “is everything okay? are you okay?”

mark is worried. about _him_. and it only makes donghyuck’s heart twist further in pain, until he remembers that him barging into mark’s room when he’s never been there before probably means that there is must be something wrong with him.

“i overheard you the other day, uh last week, when you were with that girl….” he doesn’t know what he’s saying, only that he’s about to regret all of it. stupid renjun and his stupid ideas. “you said you were in love with someone.” _else_. his brain always adds that annoying incessant else.

“oh,” mark replies, “i’m sorry, i didn’t mean t-”

why the fuck is he apologizing? “maybe this is the wrong time to ask, and you’re definitely going to shoot me down, but can you give me a chance instead?”

“what?” mark looks like he’s this close to calling 911.

“i mean, remember when we danced on new year’s eve? when you it should’ve been weird and uncomfortable, but all i think about was how there was nowhere else i’d rather be. i’m not the person you like but i could be. i desperately want to be.”

“donghyuck, that person _is_ you. it’s always been you. why on earth would you assume it was someone else?” mark is almost scolding him. “i don’t think i could have been more obvious about it, it was actually a little embarrassing. yukhei teases me about it all the time.”

he does that thing again, the thing where he pulls donghyuck by his waist and makes him go completely blank. just before mark could do what he should’ve have done when they were slow dancing, an important thought springs into his mind.

“mark lee, will you be my personal servant?”

“ _what_?” mark asks again. he’s had a few too many surprises today.

“thought that wouldn’t work,” he mutters under his breath. how did yangyang manage to do it? “never mind!”

he leans to kiss him before he asks any further questions, and it’s exactly as magical as he thought it would be. mark’s mouth is soft, and he touches him so delicately the first time, still experimenting, trying to figure out what donghyuck would like. lucky for him, it just happens to be exactly this.

“what were you planning to do with all these chocoballs?” donghyuck says later, when they’re both sitting on mark’s bed, holding hands and leaning into each other. they're not doing anything, but donghyuck thinks that it’s the best valentine’s day date in the history of humanity.

mark turns red, and then grabs his backpack and empties its contents in front of him. there have to have been at least ten boxes of chocolate in there. “i asked around, your friends said it was your favorite. i was going to ask you out today and i thought hey, the more chocolate the better my chances are, right?”

“you really were just about to ask me out? despite all my instagram posts about you?”

“uh, yeah? i thought that was your way of flirting. i was like wow, this guy must be super into me.”

donghyuck is embarrassed, but he’s also relieved that his stupidity didn't cost him a relationship with mark. all he was ever trying to do is get his attention, albeit in the most convoluted way possible.

“you know me better than i know myself, it seems.”

donghyuck is about to lean in for another kiss when he gets an instagram notification. he groans, annoyed. if it’s another dm from someone begging to be featured on their page, he’s going to throw his phone out of the window.

 **@chewinggumclub_ncu:** _BREAKING: chewing gum darling mark lee and our very own reporter lee donghyuck revealed to be dating! stay tuned for more updates!_

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading ♡♡♡
> 
> please let me know what you think! you can also find me on [cc](https://curiouscat.me/puppylove) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/demonyukhei)!


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